A father passed by his son’s bedroom and was astonished to see the bed nicely made up and everything neat and tidy. Then he saw an envelope propped up on the pillow. It was addressed, “Dad.” With the worst premonition, he opened the envelope and read the letter with trembling hands:
Dear Dad,
It is with great regret and sorrow that I’m writing you. I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with you and Mom. I’ve been finding real passion with Joan, and she is so nice. I knew you would not approve of her because of all her piercings, tattoos, tight motorcycle clothes, and the fact that she is so much older than I am. It’s not just her passion, Dad. She really gets me.
Joan says that we are going to be very happy. She owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood – just enough for the whole winter. We share a dream of having many children.
Please don’t worry, Dad. I’m 15 and I know how to take care of myself. I’m sure we’ll be back to visit someday so you can get to know your grandchildren.
Your son, Chad
P.S. Dad, none of the above is true. I’m over at Tommy’s house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the report card that’s in my desk drawer. I love you! Call when it is safe for me to come home. (Charles Kimball, Allen, Texas; www.PreachingToday.com)
Love: What does it look like when times are tough? Is it a father overlooking his son’s bad grades? Is it the raging hormones of a teenager? What does love look like in hard times?
Just a few years ago (2007), singer and songwriter, Sara Groves, wrote a song for her boys thinking about the days when they would grow up to face hard times. She called the song, “Song for my Sons,” and in it she encourages her sons, “When the cold wind blows like we know it will…don’t let your love grow cold.”
She told an interviewer she wrote the song because, “I think my sons will face things that I can’t even comprehend. And that evil, that darkness, that hurt will make them want to shut their hearts. Even now believers are shutting up their hearts and they’re closing the windows and locking the doors. But Jesus says, “I want you to keep your door open in the face of terrorism, in the face of all the ills that the world has to offer. I want you to keep your heart open and love your God and love your neighbor.” (Carolyn Arends, Running to Justice, www.Christian MusicToday.com, 11-12-07; www.PreachingToday.com)
The question is: What does that love look like in dark times?
Jesus warned us that tough times are coming to believers in these last days before His Second Coming. He also told us that, more than anything else, we must love God and love our neighbor. But right in between those two statements, he gave us a picture of what that love does and does not look like.
If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Mark 12, Mark 12, where we see a picture of true love in the dark.
Mark 12:35-37 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “How is it that the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: ”‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?” The large crowd listened to him with delight. (NIV)
They were delighted, because Jesus had stumped the teachers of the law. He had posed a question which they couldn’t answer.
They taught, as the Scriptures do, that the Messiah is a descendant of David; and yet, David Himself, in those same Scriptures (Psalm 110), called the Messiah, “Lord.” How can that be? How can the Messiah be both King David’s descendant and King David’s Lord?
Well, there is only one answer. The Messiah is God in the flesh. He is the God-man, Jesus Christ. As man, he is a descendant of David, born of the Virgin Mary, who can trace her lineage back to David. But as God, He is David’s Lord! Jesus is the Lord, God Himself! He is God who came in human flesh to save sinners.
And that is something the teachers of the law did not want to acknowledge. They refused to exalt Jesus as Lord, and it made them look foolish.
My friends, if we truly love God, we will…
EXALT JESUS AS LORD.
Unlike the religious leaders in Jesus’ day, we will worship Christ. We will submit to Him and yield to His control. For Jesus Himself said, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching” (John 14:23).
There are a million Methodists who live on the Fiji Islands, and each summer 20,000 to 50,000 of them gather for a conference. Now, before the conference begins, they have a massive choral contest with about 10,000 people participating, but this last July (2009), the government shut them down. “No choral contest this year,” the government said. There is a lot of turmoil in Fiji, and according to news reports, “Church officials said the government fears the conference and singing contest will lead to further political instability.” Nothing like singing Methodists to make a government nervous!
We laugh at that, but the Fiji government might be on to something. Commenting on this story, Lee Eclov, a pastor in Vernon Hills, Illinois says, “Christians worshiping the Lord really are dangerous – although perhaps not as those officials feared. Worshiping God in Christ upsets world systems. It is revolutionary, subversive. It brings another kingdom into view. (Kim Cain, “Fiji Bans Massive Methodist Hymn-Sing,” Religion News Service, 7-31-09; Lee Eclov, Vernon Hills, Illinois; www.PreachingToday.com)
My friends, we are citizens of another Kingdom – the Kingdom of God. & When we exalt Christ, our King, we make other earthly kings nervous. It threatens their power, because we choose to adore and obey Christ more than any other man. It threatened the power of the religious leaders in Jesus’ day. That’s why they sought to get rid of Him.
But those of us, who love Him, worship Him. We gladly submit to Him, because of our love for Him. We exalt Him even when days are dark and times are tough.
WE DON’T EXALT OURSELVES.
We don’t put on a show to make people think we’re better than we are. We don’t seek to elevate ourselves in the eyes of those around us.
Now, that’s what the religious leaders in Jesus’ day did. They wore long, flowing, white, linen robes, because that’s what the important people in their day wore. Only the common people wore clothes with color. & Every time a teacher of the law passed by, on the street or in the marketplace, they expected the common people to rise and address them as “Master.” Also, whenever an important person in Jerusalem hosted a banquet, he invited a teacher of the law to be there as a trophy to show off to his friends. That person gave this teacher the highest place at the table, even over his own parents! These teachers also had the seats of honor in the synagogues. They sat at the front with their backs to the chest containing the Torah in full view of the congregation (William L Lane, The Gospel of Mark, p.440).
Look at what Jesus says about them.
Mark 12:38-39 As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. (NIV)
Now, it was forbidden that teachers of the law should be paid for their services, but it was considered an act of piety to show them hospitality and take care of all their needs. The problem was these teachers exploited the generosity of the people, even those with limited means, like the widows who had no one to support them (Lane, p.441).
That’s what Jesus means in verse 40 when he says…
Mark 12:40 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.” (NIV)
Literally, they will receive greater condemnation. On the outside, they put on a good show. But on the inside, they were contemptible, greedy hypocrites.
They had no love for God. They only loved themselves. They just wanted to elevate themselves in the eyes of people, and that’s not what true love is all about.
True love is not about putting on a show to impress people. It’s about being real. It’s about admitting our own weaknesses and failures, and seeking to lift other people up, not ourselves.
A police officer pulled a driver aside and asked for his license and registration. “What’s wrong, officer,” the driver asked. “I didn’t go through any red lights, and I certainly wasn’t speeding.”
“No, you weren’t,” said the officer, “but I saw you waving your fist as you swerved around the lady driving in the left lane, and I further observed your flushed and angry face as you shouted at the driver of the Hummer who cut you off, and how you pounded your steering wheel when the traffic came to a stop near the bridge.”
“Is that a crime, officer?”
“No, but when I saw the ‘Jesus loves you and so do I’ bumper sticker on the car, I figured this car had to be stolen.” (Homiletics magazine, May 2004; www.PreachingToday.com)
You see, it doesn’t do us any good to put on a show. It doesn’t do us any good to put the bumper stickers on our car and pretend we love God and people when we really don’t. People see right through that kind of thing. No. The best thing to do is admit our struggles; admit we need help. Then come to God through Jesus Christ and humble ourselves before Him on a daily basis.
We are broken people, and most of the world knows it even if we don’t want to admit it to ourselves.
Keith Miller, in his book, The Taste of New Wine, put it this way: “Our modern church is filled with many people who look pure, sound pure, and are inwardly sick of themselves, their weaknesses, their frustration, and the lack of reality around them in the church. Our non-Christian friends feel either “that bunch of nice untroubled people would never understand my problems;” or the more perceptive pagans who know us socially or professionally feel that we Christians are either grossly protected and ignorant about the human situation or are out-and-out hypocrites who will not confess the sins and weakness our pagan friends know intuitively to be universal. (Keith Miller, “The Taste of New Wine,” Christianity Today, Vol. 31, no. 12; www. PreachingToday.com)
The Apostle Paul wasn’t afraid to admit his weaknesses, even long after he became a leader in the 1st Century Church. In 1 Timothy 1, he writes, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I AM the worst” (1 Timothy 1:15). Notice, he did not say “of whom I WAS the worst” – past tense. No, He said, “of whom I AM the worst” – right now in the present.
This is not false humility here. Paul really saw himself as the worst of sinners – present tense, because he knew His own heart; but he also knew how great a Savior he had.
He goes on to say, “For that very reason (because I am a sinner) I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:16).
Paul says, I’m a poster boy for the great patience Christ has for stubborn sinners like me. Christ has a long way to go in getting me straightened out, but he will not give up on me, and, dear friend, he will not give up on you either.
All you have to do is believe on Him, and He will not give up on you until He makes you fit for heaven. Trust Him and you WILL receive eternal life no matter how bad you think you are; because if Christ can save me, he can save anybody.
That’s the attitude Paul had, and that’s the attitude we need to have as we come before Christ. That’s also the attitude we need to have as we come before one another.
You see, that’s what true love is all about even in the dark, even as we face difficult days ahead. If we truly love the Lord and one another, we exalt Christ, not ourselves. Then we…
WE GIVE AWAY EVERYTHING WE HAVE.
We give sacrificially. We give not just a part. We give not just out of the surpluss. But we give even when there is nothing else to give. That’s how a widow gave in the Temple.
Mark 12:41-44 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (NIV)
Jesus had moved from the Temple’s court of the Gentiles, where He did most of His teaching. Now, He was in the Temple’s court of the Women, where there were 13 trumpet-shaped collection receptacles. & There He saw many rich people throwing in large amounts of money. We know from Matthew 6 that they made a big production out of their giving, blowing trumpets to draw attention to themselves and their gifts. In contrast to that, there was a poor widow who quietly gave two of the smallest coins minted in that day worth less than a penny.
No doubt, many were impressed with the large gifts the rich people gave, but not Jesus. No. He was impressed with the little gift a poor widow gave. Why? It’s because she gave from her heart ALL she had to give.
You see, it’s NOT the amount we give that’s important. It’s the amount we have left over after we give. Jesus is not impressed with the portion we give, but the proportion compared to what we have.
If we give $100 but have $1 million in the bank, that’s nothing. But if we give $100 and have only $101, that’s a true sacrifice. That’s the way this widow in the Temple gave. She gave all she had, trusting God to meet her needs.
And that’s the way Jesus gave to us! He gave us everything He had when He died on the cross for our sins, trusting God to raise Him from the dead. Jesus held nothing back, because He loved us so much.
And if we love Him, we too will hold nothing back. We too will give everything we have, trusting God to “supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Don’t wait until you get rich to give; because, let me tell you, it doesn’t get any easier to give when you make more money. In fact, it actually gets more difficult for many.
D. James Kennedy once told the story of a man who came to Peter Marshall, former chaplain of the Unites States Senate, with a concern about giving. He said: “I have a problem. I have been giving 10% for some time. It wasn’t too bad when I was making $20,000 a year. I could afford to give the $2,000. But you see, now I am making $500,000, and there is just no way I can afford to give away $50,000 a year.”
Dr. Marshall thought about this wealthy man’s dilemma for a while but gave no advice. Then he simply said: “Yes, sir. I see that you do have a problem. I think we ought to pray about it. Is that alright?”
The man agreed, so Dr. Marshall bowed his head and prayed, “Dear Lord, this man has a problem, and I pray that you will help him. Lord, reduce his salary back to the place where he can afford to give.” (Kevin G. Harney, Seismic Shifts, Zondervan, 2005, p. 200; www.PreachingToday. com)
That man had a problem. He thought that he only had to give God 10% and keep the rest. He didn’t realize that it ALL belonged to God. & He didn’t appreciate that God had already given him His all.
But if he did, that man wouldn’t have any trouble giving 10%, 20%, 50% or even 100% if God asked for it. In fact, such love compels us to give it all.
I like the way C. S. Lewis put it in his book, Mere Christianity: Christ says, “Give me all. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think are innocent as well as the ones you think are wicked – the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you myself: my own will shall become yours.” (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, HarperOne, 2001, p. 196-197)
That’s what true love is in good times and in bad. That’s what true love is even in the dark. If we truly love the Lord and people, then we will exalt the Savior, not ourselves, and we will give everything we have.
I know a couple, who more than 60 years ago, gave everything they had to Christ. They held nothing back, and soon after that, they sang their first duet together in the church. It was the first of many songs they would sing over the years. But this song, more than any other, expressed the commitment of their hearts:
What shall I give Thee, Master?
Thou who didst die for me.
Shall I give less of what I possess,
Or shall I give all to Thee?
Jesus, my Lord and Saviour;
Thou hast giv’n all for me;
Thou didst leave Thy home above
To die on Calvary.
What shall I give Thee, Master?
Thou hast giv’n all for me;
Not just a part or half of my heart,
I will give all to Thee. (Homer Grimes, in Favorites, Vol. 2)
Harold and Arbutus come now to sing that song again, which still expresses the commitment of their hearts to Christ, even after more than 60 years.
